Burning out – and how I’m avoiding it

August 21, 2014

Lately life has been soo busy, that I’m seriously in need of a break… I wake up every morning feeling like I haven’t slept. I spend whole days feeling drained and with no energy, with difficulty concentrating. All I do is complain that I feel tired, which is not good for me nor for my friends, who are probably sick of listening to me by now.

I’m so tired that I started thinking where can I cut down on activities that can generate anxiety and pressure? I questioned all the involvement in social media. Is it really worth the energy investment? Sometimes I feel like quitting Facebook altogether, so when I read this article on Molly Crabapple on Wired, this bit hit home:

“Twitter is the place where we crack jokes with our friends and where we see oppression, sorrow and war,” she continues, adding that she sometimes wonders if humans are equipped to cope with seeing this much suffering. It’s important to remember that having us constantly distracted and traumatised is a great plan for businesses, but it’s not so good for us.

It doesn’t mean that she would avoid or regret the internet though, she believes. Online life is not inherently false,” she says, just as “the real world is not inherently true”. “Burnout is real and we are not meant to consume all the knowledge in the world. We will always lose if we attempt to match the internet’s pace.”

So that’s it. I’m giving myself a break. I’ll still be blogging and checking FB every now and then but I need to stop checking social media obsessively. It’s not going anywhere so might as well just leave it alone.

I’m simplifying my life. Not entirely sure how yet, but I recently read that one is only capable of making a certain amount of decisions every day. If I waste all my decision making energy every day before I even leave the house, it’s bound to leave me feeling stressed for the rest of the day. Deciding what to wear the previous day might help, as well as leaving my bag packed.

I have to learn to say no. Say no to activities, to nights out, to meeting with people. Seriously, I love all this but if I can’t function because I haven’t given myself enough downtime, this has got to stop. Living in London can be exhausting and there’s always something happening, so it is easy to end up doing too much because, FOMO.

I’m reading more books. Since I moved to London I already finished reading a couple of books. My shelves are full of books I haven’t read yet, now that I take the tube to some places I managed to start getting through them. All I need to do now is leave the computer alone and just relax with a book and a cuppa when I’m at home.

Getting back into yoga. If I spend more time at home, I will be able to start doing yoga again, which as we all know is beneficial in so many ways.

Eat more greens (especially brocolli). Eating healthily might also help. I’ve recently become addicted to avocado, which is a good thing to be addicted to, if I may say so.

Reduce alcohol intake. Having a cheeky pint every now and then or a glass of wine is ok, but not every day. Especially when you feel like you NEED it to relax.

Taking a day off to not do anything. that’s what I’m doing next week. Just staying home, taking naps and relaxing.

So these are a few of my things I’m doing. Do you have any other suggestions? Drop me a line!

7 Comments

Really an honest post and as someone who had a real burnout two years ago, I’m really with you. The only thing that really helps is to take a break. Calm down as much as you can and focus on yourself. That’s a good way to find out what you really want and need – without getting under pressure. I think the pressure is what causes a burn out. The pressure to fulfill the expectations of others. or you burden yourself with too much activities that you used to like and you are unable to quit because you think you should keep going on. Forget what you could, would and should – just cam down and than follow your heart! xx

OOOH! I LOVE this Sara! Especially about making time for yourself and not succumbing to FOMO! I think we all need more “simplification of life” these days! It’s way too easy to be bombarded with SHIT!! yay!! looking forward to your journey!!
x

Balance is what you’re striving for here, surely – if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the activities which are supposed to enhance your life, then yes, it’s time to reassess. If it ain’t fun, don’t do it!
What’s FOMO? xxx

It’s good news to hear that you have strategies in place to avoid burn-out. I prefer to look at it as a way to get more out of life. If we don’t rest, sleep, read and say no more often, we’re not really recouping our energies. Big hugs to you Sara. xox

Hello, nice to meet you!

Sara Doucette is a frequent blogger and an occasional illustrator. She spends 50% of time daydreaming of art projects and petting random cats on the street and the other 50% documenting it all on Instagram.